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Day 140

Luke 11: 1-13 "EVERY ENCOURAGEMENT TO PRAY"

Day 140 – Luke 11

Text: Luke 11: 1-13

EVERY ENCOURAGEMENT TO PRAY

It is one thing to know how to pray. It is quite another thing to actually love praying. The Lord Jesus knew that His Disciples needed every encouragement to pray. Thus He tried to explain prayer by using a parable to illustrate prayer. Thus the famous Parable of the Friend at Midnight was uttered!

It is not without significance that the Lord Jesus chose a parable to illustrate His intended teaching point. A parable well told yields rich results.

1. The story chosen will stay in the memory lots longer.

2. The story line tends to apply itself in several different ways to the hearer.

3. At the same time, the central point of the parable is well maintained!

THE PARABLE OF THE FRIEND AT MIDNIGHT

Let’s look at the different elements of the parable that Jesus told. Each part contributes to the understanding of the parable as a whole.

1. The Concept of “Friendship”

What is friendship? This is certainly one of the things that the Lord Jesus sought to get across to His Disciples. They would certainly have some ideas as to what an earthly friendship is worth.

A friend is an acquaintance to begin with. It is someone you know. Soon after, a bond is established between the two acquaintances.

Friends decide that they would help each other in their hour of need. There will be care and concern expressed genuinely. If ever there was a valid need, help would be extended in the name of friendship.

In this parable there were three friends. There was a Persistent True-Friend. There was a Reluctant Friend, and the third party was Traveller-Friend.

2. The Testing of that “Friendship”

Friendship will always be tested. It will be proven to be either strong or weak, true or false. The test of that friendship will be seen when a friend asks for help. Would that assistance be rendered?

a) The request for three loaves of bread was made in the name of friendship.
b) The request was made at midnight! The name of friendship was tested indeed!

3. Travel in the First Century

In the days of the Lord Jesus, when people traveled, they had to depend upon either family or friends. There were no hotels! The host, whether that person is family or friend would have to be depended upon to provide both accommodation and refreshment.

A Traveller-Friend had turned up the doorstep of Persistent True-Friend, obviously in need for shelter and food. He must have been a true friend indeed to the Traveller! You would not want to turn up at the doorstep of a mere acquaintance in the middle of the night!

4. A small crisis

The Persistent True-Friend did not have three loaves in his house. Perhaps he was too poor to have three extra loaves of bread in the home. However, he felt that he needed to practise true friendship!

He knew of a Friend who could help, even though he personally couldn’t. He called on his Friend. This Reluctant Friend was probably in bed at that time! It was already midnight! He was woken up by his persistent friend and he was asked for three loaves of bread – in the middle of the night!

The Reluctant-Friend got up. He couldn’t get any sleep anyway! His Persistent True-Friend would never stop knocking on the door till he had made known his request to his Reluctant Friend!

Were they still friends at the end of the day? Yes! The reluctant friend now has a better understanding of what friendship was! The Persistent True-Friend did not feel ashamed of making this request on behalf of his Traveller-Friend! This was what Friendship was all about!

APPROACHING GOD AS A FRIEND

At no time did Jesus teach “familiarity.” He had already taught that God was to be approach as “Our Father in Heaven.” He now sought to teach the concept of God as a Friend!

As much as man knows how to practise friendship, God knows even better how to exercise Friendship! There are 2 special passages in the Scriptures that enlighten and honour the concept of friendship with the Lord.

1. The relationship between God and Abraham.

“But you, Israel, are My Servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
The descendants of Abraham My friend”
Isaiah 41:8

2. The relationship between Jesus and His Disciples

“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
No longer do I call you servants,
For a servant does not know what his master is doing;
But I have called you friends,
For all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you”
John 15:14-15

GOD IS NO RELUCTANT FRIEND

What is God like? He is certainly no reluctant Friend! He will not grumble when we come to Him in our hour of need! We can make very big requests, or we can make very small requests! He will prove Himself to be our Perfect Friend!

It is in the context of prayer that we will discover just how wonderful a Friend God can be! He is both our Father in Heaven and our Perfect Friend. Let us be greatly encouraged to cry out to this Great and Perfect Friend in believing prayer!

Webmaster’s Note :

If you are seeking a deeper level of understanding of prayer, please check out Pastor Charlie Tan’s excellent weekly articles on The Theology of Prayer , which includes a more indepth study of The Lord’s Prayer and how it applies to our prayer-life.